Brockton police chief stuck in limbo

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 3:42 AMMar 25, 2014 at 7:08 AM

City Council fails to act on measure that would place Robert Hayden in charge of the Police Department on a permanent basis

Staff Reporter

BROCKTON – Residents packed into City Council chambers on Monday expecting a decision on whether the body would pass an ordinance that would effectively make Chief Robert Hayden the city’s first civilian police commissioner.

However, at the end of the meeting, those residents, including about 55 Brockton police officers, were left in their seats still waiting after the City Council voted to send the proposed ordinance to the council’s Finance Committee for further debate.

The ordinance in question would replace the position of chief as the head of the Brockton Police Department with a civilian police commissioner, an arrangement which would revert back to the current situation after a year due to a sunset provision in the ordinance.

If passed, the ordinance would allow Mayor Bill Carpenter to appoint a nominee to the commissioner position, who would have to have a minimum of 25 years experience in law enforcement and have already obtained the rank of chief in Massachusetts. The appointment would then be subject to City Council approval by a two-thirds majority.

However, Monday’s vote to send the ordinance to the Finance Committee has prolonged what has already become a months-long battle for Carpenter to make Hayden commissioner.

Prior to Monday’s meeting, there was an amended version of the ordinance being discussed that would have provided for a sworn-officer to serve as police chief under the civilian police commissioner.

However, that version of the ordinance was never brought up for a vote during the meeting.

The amended version would have addressed an issue brought up at last week’s Ordinance Committee meeting after the city learned that Hayden would not be able to freeze his pension while serving as chief or, potentially, commissioner.

Hayden, who served in the Boston Police Department for 28 years, collects a pension for his service.

Under state law, any retiree who collects a pension from a state or municipal agency and takes another position with a state or municipal agency post-retirement cannot receive a salary that when added to his annual retirement allowance exceeds the current yearly salary for the position from which he retired.

The same law also limits a retiree who has taken a job with a state or municipal agency post-retirement to no more than 960 hours of work in a year, which would have essentially limited Hayden to a part-time commissioner.

By instituting a chief under a commissioner, the amended ordinance would have guaranteed there was full-time employee serving at the top of the department, as well.

Following the City Council meeting, Carpenter expressed his frustration with the situation.

“There are a small number of councilors that just refuse to listen to what the people want,” said Carpenter. “I think the three or four councilors who are obstructing this should listen to their constituents.”

Hayden is currently serving as the head of the department as 60-day interim chief, but his appointment is scheduled to expire next Monday.

However, Carpenter affirmed his intention after the meeting to reappoint Hayden on an interim basis if a long-term solution is not reached in time.

“If they (the councilors) keep kicking this around, I’ll keep appointing the chief to 60-day terms,” said Carpenter.

The City Council will continue debating the commissioner ordinance at the next Finance Committee meetings, which is scheduled for April 7.